SSI Newsletter - SRI - India
SSI Newsletter - SRI - India SSI Newsletter - SRI - India
SugarCane matters 4 Nov ‘09 CoverStory “More with Less” “More with Less” An initiative in sustainable sugarcane production Water is proving to be one of the major constraints for Indian farmers affecting the productivity and profitability of both farmers and millers. Excessive ground water exploitation, leading to decline in soil moisture and extreme variability in rainfall influenced by climate change are debilitating the sugarcane farmers in the country today. Dr. V. Vinod Goud effects of climate change are The becoming apparent more and more all over the world and agriculture is the most affected due to changes in the rainfall pattern. Delayed and insufficient rainfall has led to shortfalls in food supplies and spiralling prices of essential food commodities. The mitigation of the effects of climate change is complicated due to its multidimensional nature. In agriculture, this necessitates identifying and developing better crop management options, which can tolerate water shortages and adapt to the extremes of weather induced by climatic change and yet produce more without putting pressure on the ecosystem. Rice, sugarcane and cotton are among the highest water guzzling crops. Sugarcane consumes between 1500-3000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of cane. Besides, sugarcane is one of the most important commercial crops in India both for its sugar and other by-products. India ranks second in the world, after Brazil, in terms of sugarcane growing area (4.1 m ha) and production. Sugar industry is the second largest in the country in the agro-processing sector worth Rs. 30,000 crores and supports the livelihood of 35 million farmers. Sugarcane cultivation assumes greater significance in the present context for another reason – it’s potential to address energy needs through Cogen and ethanol production. Of late, there is increasing concern about low productivity in most of the sugarcane
During the SSI Training Manual Release: From (Lto R) Dr. S. P. Wani, Principal Scientist, ICRISAT; Shri. Prabhakar Reddy, President, Farmers Federation of AP; Dr. Biksham Gujja, Team Leader, ICRISAT-WWF Project, Dr. William Dar, Director General, ICRISAT; Shri. Sucha Singh,Hon’ble Agriculture Minister, Punjab; Dr. Dave Hoisington, Deputy Director General-Research, ICRISAT; Dr. Vithal Rajan, Board of Directors, KCP Sugars; Shri. P. K. Singh, General Manager-Cane, Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd producing states in India - in AP, where 132 lakh MT of cane was crushed in 2007-08 and that figure came down by more than half, to 60 lakh MT in 2008-09; in UP, the average number of millable canes per unit area has come down by as much as 40% which means the average yield has been only 40 to 60 t/ha, though this state has the largest area under cultivation of sugarcane. Sugarcane production is expected to reduce by 30% in the future due 250 200 150 100 50 0 Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar Gujarat Haryana Karnataka Madhya Pradesh to climatic change, as revealed in a recent four-year study conducted by the World Bank. While sugar mills are suffering due to inadequate supply of cane for crushing, the sugarcane farmers are facing problems of their own. On the one hand, the cost of cultivating cane is increasing and on the other, the prices offered by the factories are making it uneconomical to continue its cultivation. Therefore, farmers have State-wise Area, Production and Productivity of Sugarcane in India (2006-07) Maharashtra Orissa Punjab Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh Area (‘0000 ha) Production (MT) Productivity (t/ha) Uttarakhand West Bengal Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture no choice but to shift to remunerative commercial crops. Under these circumstances, if India has to sustain its sugarcane production profitably, it needs to improve the productivity of sugarcane per unit of land, water, labour and capital all at the same time, while striking a balance between economy and ecology. Responding to this need, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has partnered with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to explore options for “Improving water productivity in Agriculture” in order to improve water use efficiency and reduce pressure on freshwater ecosystems. Based on the principles of ‘more with less’ in agriculture, the project initiated its work on the first crop, rice – as it is the largest water-guzzling crop - through field extension, documentation, and research and policy advocacy to popularise and mainstream the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method in rice cultivation (see website: www.sriindia.net). Encouraged by the results in the fields and success of the project in promoting SRI for more than 5 years now, the focus shifted to sugarcane in the last one and half years. Nov ‘09 5 SugarCane matters
- Page 1 and 2: An Initiative of ICRISAT-WWF Projec
- Page 3: Three - Excessive use of fertilizer
- Page 7 and 8: The following article was written b
- Page 9 and 10: Malagasy rice farmers in Madagascar
- Page 11 and 12: SSI interventions The progress made
- Page 13 and 14: to take it up in a limited area to
- Page 15 and 16: SSI: A New Experience in Sugarcane
- Page 17 and 18: Minister with a farmer’s heart an
- Page 19 and 20: Farmer’s Experience Mr. Natabar G
- Page 21 and 22: Speaking about the various inter cr
- Page 23 and 24: The benefits of SSI are: • Reduct
SugarCane<br />
matters<br />
4<br />
Nov ‘09<br />
CoverStory<br />
“More with Less”<br />
“More with Less”<br />
An initiative in sustainable sugarcane production<br />
Water is proving to be one of the major constraints for <strong>India</strong>n farmers affecting the<br />
productivity and profitability of both farmers and millers. Excessive ground water<br />
exploitation, leading to decline in soil moisture and extreme variability in rainfall influenced<br />
by climate change are debilitating the sugarcane farmers in the country today.<br />
Dr. V. Vinod Goud<br />
effects of climate change are<br />
The becoming apparent more and<br />
more all over the world and agriculture is<br />
the most affected due to changes in the<br />
rainfall pattern. Delayed and insufficient<br />
rainfall has led to shortfalls in food<br />
supplies and spiralling prices of essential<br />
food commodities.<br />
The mitigation of the effects of climate<br />
change is complicated due to its<br />
multidimensional nature. In agriculture, this<br />
necessitates identifying and developing<br />
better crop management options, which<br />
can tolerate water shortages and adapt to<br />
the extremes of weather induced by climatic<br />
change and yet produce more without<br />
putting pressure on the ecosystem.<br />
Rice, sugarcane and cotton are among the<br />
highest water guzzling crops. Sugarcane<br />
consumes between 1500-3000 litres of<br />
water to produce 1 kg of cane. Besides,<br />
sugarcane is one of the most important<br />
commercial crops in <strong>India</strong> both for its sugar<br />
and other by-products. <strong>India</strong> ranks second in<br />
the world, after Brazil, in terms of sugarcane<br />
growing area (4.1 m ha) and production.<br />
Sugar industry is the second largest in<br />
the country in the agro-processing sector<br />
worth Rs. 30,000 crores and supports the<br />
livelihood of 35 million farmers. Sugarcane<br />
cultivation assumes greater significance in<br />
the present context for another reason – it’s<br />
potential to address energy needs through<br />
Cogen and ethanol production.<br />
Of late, there is increasing concern about<br />
low productivity in most of the sugarcane
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